


Toaster

by thenakednymph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, I have no idea if there is going to be another chapter to this, I'm tagging it with, M/M, but right now it's only if you squint, just in case, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-08-28 09:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16720908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenakednymph/pseuds/thenakednymph
Summary: Lance cannot for the life of him think of the word in English.~Hunk is used to it, Keith is not and realizes Lance is more capable than he first thought.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what this is or if there will be another chapter but I've had it sitting in my drafts for months. So here you go. I love the idea of Lance being at the very minimum bilingual. At this point he's just collecting languages.

“Hunk! What's the word?” Lance is storming down the hall towards them, his shout effectively interrupting the conversation Hunk was trying to have with Keith. His face is stormy, eyebrows knotted together as he approaches, hands balled into fists.

Hunk stumbles to a stop, blinking down at Lance as he walks right up to him. “Uhhh...what?”

“The word!” Lance snaps, “for the thing.” He gestures angrily. “God what is it.” He snaps his fingers as if somehow that will magically make Hunk understand what he means.

Hunk’s face clears and he breathes out a long, “Oh.” Realization dawns on him though Keith is still terribly confused. “Okay, that's what we’re doing.” Hunk grins, rubbing his hands together and bouncing on the balls of his feet suddenly delighted by whatever is happening. “What are my clues?”

“You put bread in it.” Lance gestures, his movements sharp and aggressive, still scowling.

Hunk's arms fall slack, disappointment slacking his features. “Okay you're gonna have to give me more than that man.”

Lance fists his hands in his hair. “God I can think of it in three other languages but not bloody English!” He glares up at the ceiling and forces himself to take a slow breath. He makes a box with his hands. “The box for bread.”

“A bread...box?” Keith offers up slowly, glancing between them and Lance shakes his head, his expression vehement.

“ _Le grille-pain_ ,” he grinds out.

“I don't speak French buddy,” Hunk says and it sounds like an apology, his voice ever patient.

Lance swears, stamping his foot and it's adorably petulant. Keith hides a smile and looks away.

“No, no. It's like a silver thing you put the bread in it and cook it for breakfast. _La tostadora._ ”

“Oh! Toaster!” Hunk beams and the clouds covering Lance's face part like the sun after a storm, his smile radiant. His hands rise slowly in the air and his face is an expression of awe and reverence, like Hunk has somehow bestowed upon him the greatest of gifts.

“Toaster,” he breathes, eyes wide with wonder. He catches Hunk's face in his hands. “Yes, yes!” he cries, his grip tightening. He’s practically vibrating with glee. “Toaster! I have have been trying to think of that word all morning.” He plants a kiss on Hunk before spinning away, throwing his hands in the air.

“Toaster!’ he cries, a note of frustration still lingering in his voice as he goes marching back the way he'd come.

Keith glances between them as Lance disappears around a corner but Hunk is completely unphased by it. He starts walking again like somehow this is all perfectly normal, picking up the threads of their earlier conversation but Keith is reeling. Hunk glances back when he realizes Keith isn't next to him and frowns.

“You okay?”

“Does that…” He gestures to where Hunk and Lance we're both standing a moment ago, blinking dumbly. “Does that happen a lot?” he asks.

“What, the kissing?” he shoots Keith a lopsided grin. “Nah, not really. I mean often enough that I'm surprised it hasn't happened before but-”

“No, not that,” Keith shakes his head still looking gobsmacked. “Well I mean yeah that too, but the other thing.”

“Oh, the word thing.” He shrugs one shoulder. “Oh yeah he does that like, almost daily. “ He waves a hand dismissively. “English isn't Lance’s first language so sometimes it's hard for him to remember the words to things.”

Keith falls back into step beside Hunk, puzzling over what he's said. “I didn't know that.”

Hunk nods. “Yeah, Spanish is his first followed by English and obviously you know he speaks French now.”

Keith can't keep the surprise off his face. “How many languages does he know?”

Hunk scratches at his chin, thinking for a moment. “Four last I checked but being out here he's probably picked up enough conversational Altean to muddle his way through.”

“Four!?” Keith nearly trips over his own feet.

Hunk nods. “He mumbles to himself in Spanish when he's thinking all the time. Can't believe you haven't caught him.” He turns and looks at Keith. “You really didn't know?”

Keith shakes his head, struck by the revelation. He and Lance aren't exactly close but that feels like something he should have picked up on. “No, I didn't.”

Hunk slides his hands into his pockets, a warm smile on his face. “Yeah, he's great with languages and people both. He was on scholarship to the Garrison to be a diplomat actually but decided to take the pilot's course too before the shit hit the fan and we wound up out here.”

Keith visibly shakes his head like he can't wrap his mind around it. “Lance,” he says just for the sake of clarification, “our Lance? The Lance who just came out here to ask you what the word for toaster was Lance?”

Hunk laughs. “Why is that so surprising? Lance is people smart man. Books are a little harder for him, he has trouble focusing long enough to read and absorb the information, but he's whip smart when it comes to people. He's always delegating and diffusing situations, making sure everyone on the castle is okay and schmoozing at the political parties the planets tend to throw for us when they join the Coalition.

“He's brilliant in a crisis but growing up in a family as big as his it's really not that surprising. He knows how to talk people down when they're scared or angry and make the best of any situation he's in.

“Please tell me you've at least noticed that. He does it to you more than anyone else.”

Keith blinks at him in surprise. “He does?”

Hunk stops and stares at Keith in disbelief. “You really never noticed.” He blinks for a moment before he laughs and Keith flushes. “I'm sorry dude, I'm not making fun of you,” Hunk apologizes and drops a warm hand onto Keith's shoulder. “Pay attention next time Lance tries to goad you into doing something and think about _why_ he's doing it. That's the kicker.” He raises a finger as if to make note of the comment.

“He knows people and he knows you better than you think he does. Give the guy some credit. He got into the Garrison for a reason.” Hunk puts his hands in his pockets. “He's not as big an idiot as he pretends to be. And aside from Shiro, he's the only other person you listen to.” Hunk turns and walks away before Keith has time to really make sense of what he's said. He doesn't listen to Lance...does he?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting in my google docs forever and hasn’t gone anywhere. So I’m just going to slap it on here.

Shiro finds out Lance speaks French when the Gladiator tosses him across the room and he lands hard on his elbow letting out a string of curse words. _“Fils de pute, ça fait mal,”_ he groans, clutching his elbow. He stares at Lance lying prone on the floor, blinking rapidly.

“Was that French?”

Lance glares at him. “Shut up Shiro.”

“You can speak French?”

Lance makes an exasperated noise, clamouring to his feet. _“Oui, je parle français!”_ He glares, still cradling his elbow. _“Y a-t-il autre chose que vous voudriez savoir? Puis-je aller à la medbay maintenant?”_ he snaps. Shiro darts a look at Keith who just shrugs not understanding a word of it either.

“Uhhh, sure?”

 _“Merci,”_ Lance spits. Shiro can't help feeling he means it as an insult as he marches from the training deck. He turns to Keith.

“Did you know he spoke French?”

Keith stares at the door Lance just left through a little stunned. “Yeah, Hunk told me but I didn't actually believe him.”

~

Allura finds out he speaks Altean when Lance gives her a recording of a song. He found it in the computer archives and after picking up something like a guitar Lance makes up the melody.

“I didn't know what it was supposed to sound like so I just kind of did whatever? I hope that's okay.” He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I just wanted to give you back a little piece of home.” Allura cries and after listening to the song she chases him down in the kitchen and hugs him, crying into his shoulder.

“I didn't know you spoke Altean.” Her voice breaks and Lance holds her, running a hand up and down her back.

“Eh, I'm still not very good at but I'm getting better.” She clutches the recording to her chest and kisses his cheek.

“Thank you.”

Pidge watches Allura wipe her cheeks before she walks from the room, still cradling the recording. They turn to Lance. “You speak Altean?”

Lance groans, staring up at the ceiling. “Oh my god.” He turns and leaves.

Hunk glances at the stunned faces all around the table. “You guys didn't know that?”

~

Lance gets struck by some kind of beam that scrambles his brain a week later and he's stuck speaking Italian for three days before they find a way to fix it.

“What is he saying? I think my translator is broken.” Allura looks at the others.

Pidge glances at Hunk. “Is that Italian?” 

“He speaks Italian?” Shiro looks terribly confused.

Lance throws up his hands. _“Mio Dio! Sì, parlo italiano, francese e spagnolo, perché sei sorpreso?”_ He puts his hands on his hips. _“Vuoi davvero avere questa conversazione adesso?”_

They all turn and look at Hunk. “What's he saying?”

Hunk shrugs. “I don't know, I don't speak Italian.”

_“Basta aggiustarlo!”_

“It's okay buddy, we'll get it figured out.” Hunk puts a hand on his shoulder and Lance huffs. “In the meantime do you think you could give us a crash course in Italian?” 

Lance smacks a hand to his forehead and sighs. “ _Sinistra. Destra_.” He gestures left and right respectively.  

“ _Sì_ .” He nods in an exaggerated manner, drawing the word out like they're idiots. “ _No_.”

“Well you don't have to be such a smart ass about it.” Pidge crosses their arms over their chest.

“ _Vaffanculo_.” He flips Pidge the bird with a dark scowl and Keith snorts.

“That I understood.”

~

They all find out he speaks Hatian Creole one night after a particularly hard mission. They're all piled onto the couch together, feeling the need to be together. They’re all a tangle of limbs overlapping one another, none of them wanting to be alone.

Lance's fingers are playing with Keith's hair from where his arm is draped around the back of the couch. He hasn’t said anything so Lance doesn't stop.

Allura's head is on his shoulder and she asks him softly,

“Will you sing something Lance?”

He's quiet for a moment before he starts humming and then he begins to sing. His voice is low and soft as he sings an acapella version of Fey Oh Di Not.

They all listen is rapt silence, Lance's voice twisting through the air, curling and warm.

As the song ends, the last note trailing off Lance lets the moment linger before speaking.

“Before any of you can ask, yes, I speak Hatian Creole.”

Keith turns and looks at him. “You speak what now?”

Before Lance can answer Shiro is leaning forward, the couch creaking under him. The cadence of the song is stuck in his mind even if he doesn’t understand the words. “What does it mean?”

“Does it matter?”

Shiro seems to think on that for a moment before sitting back. “No.”

“Will you sing another one Lance?” Allura asks.

Lance spends the next few hours singing various songs in an array of languages until everyone is asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot I wrote this??? So here, have some of Lance speaking Galran. Because that’s something else I HC him teaching himself. SMART BOY.

After Keith comes back from the Blade of Marmora with his mother, it takes Lance two days to approach her. They’re all in the hanger waiting to depart for the Blade again. Lance hates that Keith is leaving but knows there’s nothing he can do to stop him. There never was. Still, he needs to do this.

He approaches Krolia where she’s standing away from everyone else, her sharp eyes surveying everything. Lance inclines his head as they make eye contact and slips into Galran.

 _“He’s happy.”_ He can feel Krolia’s surprise at the words but she recovers quickly, following Lance’s gaze as his eyes find Keith and he gives a nod. _“He wasn’t before,”_ Lance goes one _“Not really.”_ Krolia looks back at him again and Lance can’t help picking out the features of her face that he sees in Keith. It makes him smile. _“I’m glad he found you.”_

Krolia shifts her weight, appraising him. “ _You have been avoiding me.”_

Lance doesn’t bother denying it. _“Yes.”_

He watches her grow defensive, shoulders straightening as if to put herself between Lance and Keith, like maybe it’s her being Galra he had a problem with.

 _“Why?”_ she demands, puffing out her chest.

Lance smiles. “ _I wanted to know you were worthy of him.”_ His bluntness startles her and she lifts her eyebrows.

 _“I wanted to be happy for him, that he found you. But I’ve seen a lot of really shitty parents come back into the lives of people I care about and screw them up.”_ His gaze is heavy and honest. _“It would have been better if they’d never come back at all._ ”

His face turns impassive and he lets his tone grow a little cold. “ _I was trying to decide if I needed to shoot you or not.”_

Krolia stares at him, eyes hard before nodding slowly. “ _I see.”_

Lance inclines his head again, more formal. “ _It’s an honor to meet you.”_

Lance thinks he can see the corners of her eyes lift in a smile.

“Good luck on your trip.” He backs away, nodding at Keith with a small smile as he approaches but doesn’t stay.

Keith comes to a stop beside Krolia, both of them watching as Lance is caught up in another conversation on the other side of the room before he can escape.

“What was that about?” Keith asks.

Krolia crosses her arms and studies Lance. “You did not tell me the Blue one spoke Galran.”

Keith blanches, staring after Lance.

“He can what now?”

Krolia blinks down at him. “You did not know.”

Keith’s eyebrows lift. “No...I didn’t,” he says slowly. “But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” A small smile pulls at his mouth, proud. “He has a way with languages.”

Krolia nods slowly. “I see.” They lapse briefly into silence before she speaks again. “He was threatening to shoot me.”

Keith blanches again, caught somewhere between surprised and affronted. “He what?”

Krolia smiles, taking a slow breath. “I like him.” She lets her arms slip to her sides, patting Keith’s shoulder. “You may keep him.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah Keith, you do.
> 
> Now with assorted companion piece about Spanish speaking Keith: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432918


End file.
